Interdisciplinary community-based service learning in Kenya: Lessons learned for nursing education

Background and Issues: Interdisciplinary and interprofessional education is often difficult to initiate and sustain in the context of an already crowded curriculum and a climate of competition for scarce resources. However, concepts such as primary health care, cultural competence, and social justice traverse disciplinary boundaries and are difficult to learn in the abstract for students in many domestic health care settings. Description: The purpose of this paper is to describe the context, format, and outcomes of a three-week interdisciplinary study abroad experience to Kenya over a period of three years. Principles of primary health care, post-development thought, and social justice informed the design and implementation of the graduate program for nursing, public service management, and social work students. Seminars focused on Kenyan colonial and post-independence history, cultural pluralism, socioeconomic determinants of health, and the politics of poverty. Mini-internships with non-profit agencies focused on the rescue and rehabilitation of street children, the care and treatment of people affected by HIV-AIDS including orphans and homeless elder women, and refugees of violence and political persecution. Critical discussions emerged focusing on relationships between post-colonial legacy and poverty, status of women and spread of HIV-AIDS, the challenge of sustainable technology, and respect for diversity within and across national boundaries. Faculty asked students to reflect on their experiences orally through debriefing sessions and in writing through journaling, reflection papers, and a summative paper on a topic of disciplinary interest but that demonstrated the intersection of health, social justice, and development. Lessons Learned: Nursing students indicated that outstanding experiences included learning about global non-profit agencies and their role in effecting policy decisions in developing nations, exposure to dramatically different cultures and subcultures, realizing the importance of essential resources such as basic nutrition, clean water, and low-technology nursing in seeking “health for all”. Nursing faculty in working with partner faculty learned about different signature pedagogies that improved overall teaching. Recommendations: Collaboration in designing and implementing international service-learning experiences can bring disciplines together in a cost-effective manner, illuminate abstract concepts in meaningful ways that can impact professional practice, and still meet co-curricular objectives.